Teaching Kids Money Management - Young Entrepreneur Summer Earning & Saving Ideas

Family Finances
2nd in a series of 5 posts

Information for this post is sourced from Genworth Financial in partnership with the SheHeard Influencer Network

Summer is just about here. Certainly many kids are already out of school for a long three-month sabbatical from school work and many have a surplus of free time. So what better time than now to teach your youngsters about money management both how to earn some extra spending money and how to save?

My girls w/ their Refreshment Stand, MommyBlogExpert.com

Even before I started writing this post in my continuing series featuring useful resources from Genworth Financial I've been thinking about it. This is definitely a topic that's been in the forefront of my mind as my own four teens start finals this week signaling that school will be out for summer the week after next.

Depending on interests, skills and ages of your own kids there are so many different things you can suggest to them to produce a small income -- either working within your own household for little ones or for neighbors and friends for tweens and teens.

Just a few ideas for summer youth self-employment

• Lemonade Stand Owner
• Mother's Helper
• Errand Runner
• Babysitter
• Dog Walker/Dog Sitter
• Housekeeper
• Lawn Maintenance Engineer
• Odd Jobs Specialist
• Arts & Crafts Proprietor
• Music Lessons Teacher
• Summer Tutor
Earning their own money definitely teaches kids valuable math skills and how to use a calculator, but it's so much more than that. Without a doubt inspiring our sons and daughters to earn money rather than just giving them some cash will give them a real sense of ownership and pride in their accomplishments -- as well as provide a priceless life skill for the future. 

As a parent of a budding entrepreneur you are also helping your child mature, setting the stage for them to independently solve problems by creating and managing his or her own cottage business. Ultimately by realizing their entrepreneurial aspirations, kids learn to associate money with hard work and effort and not with entitlement. That's not a bad thing.






As a tween my daughter made & sold cards, MommyBlogExpert.com 

Once your child has earned some money, depending on how old they are they may need your guidance and encouragement to decide how much to spend now as well as what amount to save. By all means encourage them to at least set aside some of the cash they've earned. Be proactive and together go down to your local bank and set up a savings account in their name where they can deposit some of their earnings and watch their bank account balance grow. 

Later when your children have grown into adults and are supporting themselves earning money as well as learning to manage and save it will serve them well, helping them deal with more complex issues they're likely to encounter in their early 20s like how to protect your finances when aquiring a new roomate. Then when they have a family there are other financial considerations they'll need to address like why it's important for parents with young kids to have life insurance.



About Genworth
Genworth, headquartered in Richmond, VA, offers a range of services to client living in all 50 U.S. states. Among the products available are retirement income, life and long term care insurance and mortgage insurance. For more information visit Genworth.com and their Twitter and Facebook pages.

FTC Disclosure: Information for this post is sourced from Genworth Financial in partnership with the SheHeard Influencer Network, however all opinions are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.